Albus Potter and the Parseltongue Prince
by LittleGreenTypewriter
Summary: Albus Severus Potter is a Slytherin but that doesn't mean he can speak Parseltongue. When, in his sixth year, the Chamber of Secrets is opened yet again, all eyes fall to Albus, son of the great Harry Potter, and he is left to find to true snake-speaker. But which is his friends is it? And to top it all off, why has his best friend Scorpius started looking at him strangely? ASP/SHM
1. Prologue

_Hello, dearest readers. This is my first next generation fanfiction and my first fanfiction that has ever been done with an actual plot. In all honesty, I'm quite proud of myself. Updates will happen on the sixth of every month, so stay tuned for another chapter fairly soon. This story is beta'd might I add._

_Quick disclaimer to say I own nothing but the plot and my OCs (who incidentally do not feature in the chapter)._

_Enjoy! And please review._

* * *

**Prologue – Train Rides and Nice Guys**

* * *

Albus Severus Potter was not like the rest of his gigantic family - he had always known this - but he had managed to hide that fact away from everyone else, burry it in the sand where no one could ever find it, where it would eventually be lost to time. He was sure no one would ever find it, so sure he had no backup plan, no excuse, just the assurance that the truth would never reach the surface.

His plan to pretend for all of his life had been going well, not one person had noticed, not even his father - who had always favoured him - until one day, Albus Severus sat on a mundane stool and had a not-so-mundane hat placed on his head.

He had thought - naively Albus would recognise now, if ever he looked back – that this hat would be fooled too, for, in the end, it was just a hat, yes? But this was a wise hat and it could see things no one else could. It could see into Albus' _mind_. Tucked away in the recesses of said mind, it saw ambition, cunning, and a fierce sense of self-preservation. These traits, it knew – as did Albus – did not suit a Gryffindor well, and so, to the shock and awe of almost everyone in the Great Hall at the time, the Sorting Hat named the great, brave and noble Harry James Potter's second son a Slytherin.

Albus' secret was released into the world, never to return to its place in the sand.

* * *

Albus Potter dared not chance a final look at his parents and little sister when he sat down on the Hogwarts Express for the first time in his relatively short life. The train was bursting with people he had neither seen nor heard of before, and just a few he was related to. Brushing past what felt like a thousand people, Albus made his way down the train to where he thought he might find his brother, James, and cousin, Rose, and probably Fred, Roxanne, Lucy, Molly and Dominique. Indeed, when he did find the compartment that housed his family, it was full.

"Come on Al," Rose said, taking Albus' arm in a firm grasp and leading him out of the compartment, her curly red hair bouncing on her shoulders. "We'll find other first years to sit with."

And so, without any choice in the matter whatsoever, Albus found himself in the crowded corridors of the Hogwarts Express again, though this time not alone and all the more relieved for it.

As the pair made their way along the train, the crowd in the rickety corridors thinned and by the time they found a compartment that was not completely full they were the only two still standing that Albus could see.

"There's somebody in this one," Rose commented after peering into the final compartment on the train. "But I think he's asleep. Should we go in?"  
Rose's bright blue eyes searched Albus' for conformation, her hand resting on the brass door handle, ready to open it or leave depending on Albus' reply.  
Albus shrugged; "Sure." He was unused to being asked his opinion; normally James just led him around. Something of his true nature flickered in his stomach and he instantly fought to suppress it.

Rose slid opened the door and stepped inside, Albus following close behind and took the spare seat beside the window. The boy was indeed fast asleep, his head covered with thick, white blonde hair that was slicked back rested against the window, both of his hands in the pockets of his cloak. He looked young, certainly no older than James and the uniform he wore had no indication of his house; Albus guessed he was a first year. On the seat beside him was a long, pale wand and a large black dragon hide bag from which small squawking noises came when the carriage rattled over the old train tracks. Albus and Rose sat in silence, afraid to wake the sleeping boy.

* * *

A loud banging and the noise of voices shouting roughly roused Albus from an uncomfortable sleep. At his side, Rose sat with her nose buried in a book, completely unaware of the round elderly woman and her loaded sweets trolley sauntering past their compartment.

"Anything from the trolley, dear?" she asked loudly, peering at Albus with kind brown eyes. Albus was about to refuse, but a loud rumbling from his stomach reminded him of the fact that he had not eaten since his breakfast early that morning.  
"I'll have a pumpkin pie, please," he said, rummaging around in his pockets for some money.  
"And I'll have the same." The voice was unexpectedly close, making Albus squeak as he turned around to see that the sleeping boy was sleeping no longer, and that he was standing right next to Albus.

Albus stared at him, as the tall boy – for he realised now that the boy was very tall – handed over some silver coins to the trolley woman and was handed a dull orange pumpkin pie in return.  
"Thank you, dear," the woman said, dropping the money into a pouch around her waist and holding out a pumpkin pie for Albus expectantly. When he finally brought out the money, he realised he was short.  
"Fluff," he murmured to himself. "Rosie, have you got any money on you; I've left mine in my trunk."  
Rose's head snapped up to look him in the eyes. "No, I left my money in my trunk too." Albus' stomach growled loudly again and he looked at the trolley woman apologetically.  
"Sorry," he said. "I've not got enough." He shoved his silver coins back into his pockets and sat down, not looking into the woman's sympathetic eyes.  
"Here," the blond boy said suddenly, dropping more money out to the woman and passing the pie she gave him to Albus.

Albus looked up to the boy in wonder at the act of kindness, who stood in the doorway until the woman and her trolley passed by completely.  
"Thanks," he muttered, tucking into his pumpkin pie. The other boy shrugged.  
"Don't worry about it. It's like my Dad always says; what's the point in having loads of money when you don't spend it?" He smiled at Albus, but the smile didn't reach his grey eyes.

"I'm Scorpius, by the way. Scorpius Malfoy." Albus stared at the hand Scorpius outstretched to him. Scorpius Malfoy. Scorpius _Malfoy_. Of the Malfoys. Albus was a Potter and Scorpius Malfoy had just bought something for him. Scorpius started to retract his hand, but Albus grabbed it before he had withdrawn it completely with a sudden flair of courage. Who cared if he was a Malfoy, he had just been kind to him.  
"Albus Potter," he announced, smiling widely. Scorpius smiled again, and this time his grey eyes sparkled with it.


	2. Chapter One

_Hello Ladies & Gentlemen! Today, and five days late, unfortunately, I give you the first Chapter. This chapter is not beta'd for my beta reader has been ill, she thought she would have been better sooner, hence the delay in updating, but I thought I had prolonged it enough, so here we go. I apologise for any mistakes, and the beta'd version will be uploaded soon, if you want to come for another look later. This chapter also takes place six years after the prologue, for anybody that cannot see it._

_Do Enjoy! And please review!_

_Edit: Beta'd!_

* * *

**Chapter One – Red & Gold vs. Green & Silver**

* * *

The Divination N.E.W.T class was always tiny; this year is consisted of just ten pupils. In all honesty, Albus had no idea why he had made the decision to take the subject to N.E.W.T level, other than the fact that you only needed to get an Acceptable in the Divination O.W.L., and everyday he wished he hadn't.

"Oh, hello Albus," Professor Trelawney greeted him in her ethereal voice as he pushed open the trapdoor and scrambled into the classroom, Scorpius close at his heels. "I haven't seen you in my class for a while."  
"Professor, you've been teaching me twice a week for the past six years," he pointed out as Scorpius stood up behind him.  
Professor Trelawney ignored him. "Ah, Scorpius dear, how is your mother?"  
Albus and Scorpius shared an exasperated look. "She's well, Professor."  
"I see," Professor Trelawney said and wandered off to stand by her desk, stroking her grey and white cat's head.

"She gets more and more insane every day, I swear," Scorpius muttered, sliding into one of the two miniature seats at a minute table and leaning back. Albus thought he looked rather like a house cat sometimes; laidback, superior and unthinkingly graceful. He wondered if he threw him out of a window, would he land on his feet? He took the other seat and unceremoniously threw his copy of _Unfogging the Future _onto the table, almost knocking over the crystal ball sitting on a cushion in the middle.  
Scorpius gave the ball a scathing look. "I wish that thing would just _smash_."  
Albus chuckled softly and flicked open his textbook to the pages about crystal-gazing, purposefully keeping his eyes off of Scorpius. "I don't see why you even took Divination; the only subject you struggle with is Potions and you still managed to scrape an E in that."  
Scorpius continued to glare at the crystal ball. "I only managed to get an E because Carrow sat on one side of me, and Luce sat on the other, and they're both infuriatingly easy to copy off of, and practically geniuses. Plus, I was hardly going to leave you here alone."  
Albus looked up from the textbook to see Scorpius' piercing grey eyes gazing at him, with a strange look in them that he didn't recognise.

Lately, Scorpius had been giving Albus strange glances a lot. He had originally thought it might be because Albus had finally told him he was gay, but that seemed rather unlikely. Maybe it was because Scorpius had failed to join the Quidditch team again. Albus wasn't sure, but it was starting to freak him out a little.

* * *

As Lucinda Dolohov sauntered into the Slytherin common room, Albus smiled and remembered the day they had met. Despite being in the same year and the same house, Albus hadn't met Lucinda until two weeks into his third year when the Quidditch tryouts were held. Lucinda was already a fierce beater, much loved by the rest of the team, and Albus was trying out for the open place of Seeker. As the only third year on the team at the time, Lucinda had encouraged Albus tremendously and begged that he join the team, rather than his opposition for the position- a seventh year. Back then, she had had black hair that fell in lazy half-curls to her waist, and jungle green eyes flecked with bronze, her face round and pale.

That paleness was the only thing she had kept since then. Now, she was one of the tallest girls in Hogwarts, her hair poker straight and shoulder length, white blonde except from her dark green fringe, her eyes electric blue. But she was still just as magnificent a beater.

Lucinda dropped down onto the black leather couch beside him, pushing her cold, bare feet under his thigh.  
"Quidditch practise tonight," she said lightly, bringing a thick, leather bound book out of her bag and resting it on her knees.  
"Why do all my notifications about Quidditch come through you?" he asked unintentionally sharply. Part of him wanted to feel guilty about it, but he couldn't bring himself to apologise.  
Lucinda didn't seem to mind, never taking her eyes off of her book. "Because you never read the notice board, and nobody would tell you otherwise. Have you done your Divination homework?"  
Albus shook his head and laughed. "You sound like my Aunt Hermione. And I need to read someone's palms for it."  
"That's bullshit, Al."

"What is?" A smooth, deep voice asked from above Albus' head. His green eyes snapped up to see Dimitri Carrow towering above him; one dark eyebrow raised his mop of dark brown hair falling into his curious golden brown eyes. Albus felt his heart give a flutter and cursed himself for it. Carrow was straight, and nothing was ever going to change that.

"Palm reading," Lucinda answered angrily, as Carrow sat behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Divination in general is bullshit."

A fierce, hot jealously shot through Albus and he cursed himself again; there was nothing going on between them, he knew that. He wondered how Calin must feel when he saw them like that - it must be much worse for him.

"Where's Thorne, and Colt?" he asked to distract himself from his own insanity. Because wanting Carrow was insane. He'd dated, and probably slept with, almost every girl in their year, Slytherin or not, and it wasn't as if he was ever going to look at Albus twice. Even if he was gay, it would be unadvisable to go out with him; as Thorne always said, he was probably diseased.  
"Thorne's with Anastasia. I would have thought Colt was with you, Luce?"  
"Why?" she snapped at him, looking furious.

In the previous year, Carrow and Thorne had constantly accused Lucinda and Colt of having a secret relationship. Though both of them consistently denied it, both of them would disappear for hours on end, and even Albus had to admit he thought there was something going on there. As it turned out, Lucinda was having a secret relationship, just not with Colt. Colt, on the other hand, had been practising like mad to try and get onto the Quidditch team, though was too embarrassed to tell them, and when the tryouts for this year's Quidditch team came around, he had swiped the open place for Keeper right from under Scorpius, much to the taller boy's displeasure. Even still, Lucinda was always angered whenever she thought they might be accusing her again.

Albus raised an eyebrow at her, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips, whilst Carrow laughed and ran his hands through her hair.  
"Calm down, Luce," he chuckled. "I simply meant that you both just had a free; normally you spend it together."

_I wish he'd run his hands through my hair like that_, a little voice in the back of Albus' mind said wistfully.  
Shut up! He told it. I do not want Carrow!  
_Oh yes you do. You want to know what he feels like, what it would be like to-_

"Luce, Al!" A voice called over, shutting up the voice in Albus' head, much to his relief. The three sixth years looked around and caught sight of a brown eyed boy coming towards them on long, lean legs that seemed to cover half of the room in one stride.

_Now, I wouldn't mind having him either, _the voice said suggestively. _I wonder if his cock's-  
_Shut up! Albus screamed at the voice in his head. I do not want Carrow, and I most certainly do not want Calin, okay?  
No reply came, and Albus hoped the voice kept silent.

"Remember we've got Quidditch at six, yeah?" Calin kept him eyes mainly on Albus, who was terrible for forgetting.

The younger of the two black haired boys blushed and looked away, frightfully embarrassed. His eyes settled on Carrow, whose head was resting on Lucinda's shoulder, who was gazing up at Calin, who in turn was still watching Albus. Carrow, Albus decided, really wasn't that attractive; his eyes were slightly too light a brown, his nose too long, his chin too sharp. Yet when he looked to Albus and his thin lips curved up in a tiny smile, Albus still felt himself turn an even darker shade of pink. Carrow's smile grew, and his eyes glittered with unconstrained mischief.

"So, I'll see you both there the. On time?" Calin's voice brought Albus and Carrow's attention back to him, though Albus felt a little light headed.  
"I'll make sure he's there on time," Lucinda assured their team captain.  
Finally, Calin's attention was back on his favourite Beater. He smiled a slightly crooked smile, and leaned down to kiss her once on the lips, before he was off again, tending to the call of his friends.

"You two are so cute," Carrow stated.  
Lucinda rolled her eyes at him. "And you're such a twelve year old girl."

* * *

Albus stood in front of the mirror in his bathroom and straightened his tie. The silk was smooth under his hand, and he found himself imagining what his life would have been like if its colours had been red and gold instead of green and silver. His father would still have favoured him, he guessed, and probably would have continued smothering him. His brother would have actually spoken to him in school time, but would have fought with him constantly. Roxanne would have been his Quidditch team captain instead of Calin. He would have spent most of his time with Rose, not Scorpius. He would probably not even know Scorpius, or hate him like his father had Draco Malfoy.

The thought of hating Scorpius sent a stab of pain through his heart, and Albus knew that he would never give Scorpius' friendship up, not even for the love his family had once shown him. They still loved him, he knew, but it didn't feel the same as they loved James and Lily.

He caught sight of the dark green jade and black diamond pin that his Grams had given him on his sixteenth birthday.

"This belonged to the last member of your family that was a Slytherin. He was my uncle, Ignatius Prewett. Your Uncle Percy is named after him. Don't let anybody make you think you are any less a part of this family just because of the colours in your tie, okay?" she had said, pulling him into a bone crushing hug.

He had worn it every day since.

* * *

Albus watched as the blond man swirled the dark red wine in his glass and looked up at the dark haired woman through his eyelashes. Albus felt a stab of pain shoot through his chest, as if someone had sent an arrow straight through his heart. The blood that oozed out of the wound was green, and when Albus looked back at the pair on the other side of the room, his vision was tinged green.

_How can he do this to me?! _The voice in his head screamed. _He's supposed to love me!_  
Albus flinched.

He didn't know the man, or the woman, or the voice in his head, but they had a vague sense of familiarity to them.

_And her, she's just a slut, a whore! She's just using him! He must know that, surely he must know that? He isn't an idiot, but then neither is she. Neither am I. I know what she's doing, doesn't he understand. It was supposed to be just us, just the two of us, together. This was our project, our work, and she thinks she can just worm her way in, does she?_

"Are you alright, dear?" A voice said from beside Albus. He turned to face the round, short woman, still furious with the blond man and unaware of whom he was.  
"I'm not your _dear_, and I'm perfectly alright," he snapped at her, turning back to the other pair as pain and worry settled in the woman's face. She too, had looked familiar, but he had no clue as to who she was.  
"Albus," she said in a strange voice. Her bright blue eyes turned grey as he looked at her.  
Albus leaned backwards; what was this?  
"Albus," she said again, sounding worried, but the voice was not her's. It was a voice he knew all too well, but couldn't name. "Albus!"

Albus' eyes snapped open, his chest heaving as air whooshed in and out of his lungs. A pointed, worried face hovered over him with the same grey eyes the woman had had. He smiled, and felt himself relax a little.

"Scorpius," he breathed, pushing himself up into a sitting position.  
"You must have been having an awful dream," Colt said, and Albus noticed he, Carrow and Thorne were all standing around his bed, Scorpius perched on the end.  
"Did I wake you all?" he asked, suddenly feeling rather guilty. He hadn't been screaming in his dream. Had he been screaming in reality though?  
"I think you woke up the entire tower," Scorpius chimed in, a smirk starting to form on his lips. Clearly his worry had passed.

Suddenly, the door to the bedroom slammed open and two boys stood in the doorway, both holding up wands, little balls of light emanating from the tip.  
"What is going on in here?" Frank Longbottom screeched.  
Albus had to smother a laugh as Calin, who stood beside him, winced.  
"Nothing, Frank, Albus had a bad dream," Carrow sneered, his voice thick with disgust.  
"Well then," Frank snapped. "Back to bed, all of you. It's almost half past four, we have to get up soon."

The door slammed shut again, and the boys laughed as they slunk back to bed. Not long after, Albus could hear the soft, slow in and out of his dorm mates breathing as they fell into a deep slumber, but Albus could not sleep. Who had the people in his dream been? And why was he so jealous of someone he'd never met?

* * *

The smell of burnt toast and pumpkin soup wafted towards the door of the Great Hall as the five Slytherin boys walked along the Slytherin table until they caught sight of Lucinda sitting, animatedly talking to Irina Avery, five empty spaces around her. The five sank into them and Lucinda glared at them all.

"You're all late," she snipped, already dressed in her green and silver Quidditch jersey, the number four emblazoned on the front and her cream trousers and her dark brown boots. Her gaze moved to Colt, then Albus. "Why aren't you wearing your Quidditch stuff?"  
"The game doesn't start until two, Luce," Colt said, picking up a barely brown slice of toast and covering it with peanut butter.  
Lucinda looked disgusted. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Calin, who appeared behind them.  
"Are you guys ready to slaughter those Gryffindors?" he asked, clearly trying to build the morale they had lost after being defeated by the Hufflepuffs in a practice game. He too, was wearing his uniform, as was Avery.  
Colt and Albus exchanged a look. "When does the game start?" Albus asked, suddenly nervous.  
Calin glanced at his watch. "In fifteen minutes."  
Colt gagged on his toast. "Fifteen minutes?!" he shouted, his voice muffled by his food.  
Calin nodded, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.  
"So you'd better get ready," Thorne pointed out.  
The two boys were up and out of the Great Hall in a flash.

* * *

Colt and Albus sprinted back up the spiral staircase, their green and silver cloaks whipping about behind them. Nobody else was in the corridors now, everybody would already be in the stands for the first Slytherin game of the season. Albus had got a glance at the common room clock before they left. It was two minutes to two; they were going to be late.

"You ready?" Calin asked when they finally arrived in the Slytherin Quidditch room, completely out of breath.  
Colt bent over, his hands on his knees, his breath coming out in loud wheezes.  
Calin's brow creased with concern, and he came to stand beside the shorter boy. "Are you going to be okay to play?"  
Colt stood up slowly, his eyes on the ceiling, and waved a hand dismissively at him. "I'll be fine."

Madam Eldridge walked in then, pulling on her black dragon hide cloves. Her blue eyes swept over the boys and girls in the room and raised a light brown eyebrow at Calin.

"Are you ready yet?" she barked, impatience clear in her shrill, high voice.  
Calin glanced at her, and back at Colt. "Yes, Madam."  
The aging woman nodded and swept out of the room.

Albus watched from the archway as Madam Eldridge stood in the middle of the Quidditch pitch and gestured for both of the teams to come forward. He and Anatoli Dolohov – Lucinda's younger cousin - left first, as Seeker and Keeper. Lucinda and Avery walked out behind them, with Calin, Colt and another seventh year boy named Nickolas Pike, walked at the back. As the team stepped out onto the field, broomsticks in hand, the Slytherin crowd erupted into cheers and whistles. Albus searched the faces of the crowd and saw Scorpius, Carrow and Thorne standing together, cheering as loud as anybody else. His father wasn't there, of course, he never was. He was probably on the Gryffindor side, supporting his brother and cousins like he always did, but never Albus.

"Mount your brooms!" Madam Eldridge ordered. She glanced around the pitch to make sure everybody was ready, and then gave her whistle a hard, sharp blow. Both teams soared up into the sky, and as always, Albus waited mid air, far above the rest of the players. He listened for the voice of his cousin Louis.

"Poppy Wildflower catches the Quaffle, and off she goes! Oh, she passes to Roxanne Weasley – my cousin, the captain. She's belting along there, oh she's almost there! She passes back to Poppy – intercepted by Slytherin's new boy, Colt Browning-Foxx! Never seen him play before. He's fast! He's belting back down to the Gryffindor goalposts, a neat pass to team Captain, Calin Lexington. Keeper Fred Weasley – another cousin of mine – swoops to save the ball – misses – SLYTHERIN SCORE!"

Albus heard the Slytherins erupt into cheers again, but his mind was now otherwise occupied. His gaze swept over the field, above him, below him, for the golden ball that would be the Snitch. Abruptly, Hugo Weasley started to move, speeding along near the ground. Albus searched in front of him and saw a tiny golden dot moving along near the ground. Down, he swooped, close to the ground. Hugo reached out, but suddenly a Bludger hit his arm, and the Snitch was out of this reach. Albus didn't pause to see what happened to his cousin, instead, he chased after the Snitch. He heard the Gryffindors roar suddenly, and knew that they must have scored. He felt a _whoosh_ of air as players rushed overhead, and watched, as barely three feet in front of him, Annabelle Worthington crashed into the ground. He curved around her as another Bludger came hurtling his way. Avery was there, then, and she slammed her beater into the Bludger, sending it hurtling along the other direction. She looked at Albus and grinned, before diving out of the way as two Gryffindor Chasers sped up to her.

Cheering started again, Albus didn't know which team it came from. He looked around and was the Snitch hovering just above him. Hugo was nowhere to be seen. Albus swooped up in chase of the Snitch. He was so close - so close - if he could just – his hand closed around the Snitch, and the Slytherins were so loud, he could barely hear Louis announce that he had caught the caught the Snitch, and that Slytherin had one the game.

Albus' family may dislike his house, but they could never say they couldn't play Quidditch.

* * *

Albus watched as the blond man swirled the dark red wine in his glass and looked up at the dark haired woman through his eyelashes. Albus felt a stab of pain shoot through his chest, as if someone had sent an arrow straight through his heart. The blood that oozed out of the wound was green, and when Albus looked back at the pair on the other side of the room, his vision was tinged green.

_How can he do this to me?! _The voice in his head screamed. _He's supposed to love me!_  
Albus flinched.

He didn't know the man, or the woman, or the voice in his head, but they had a vague sense of familiarity to them.

_And her, she's just a slut, a whore! She's just using-_

"Wake up!" Albus flinched at the noise, and looked around. Where had it come from?  
"Get up! GET UP, GET UP GET UP!" Albus' eyes snapped open and he bolted up right to see Lucinda standing in the middle of the room, screaming. "GET UP!"  
"Right I'm up, I'm up!" Carrow shouted back at her, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he pushed himself up off his bed.  
"What is it, Luce?" Thorne asked, his voice groggy.  
"You have to come and see!" she shouted, grabbed Thorne and Carrow by the hand and wrenched them both out of bed. She kept her hold on them as she ran from the room. She had looked terrified. Colt, Scorpius and Albus exchanged a look, and then bolted out after them.

They ran, in their pyjamas, from the bedrooms, though the common room, and up several flights of stairs, to stand in front of a wall. Albus felt his chest constrict as he looked at the message, written in what appeared to be blood;

'The chamber of secrets has been opened, enemies of the Heir beware!'


	3. Chapter Two

_Ahhh sorry this took so long. I had exams, and then my computer broke, and then I was at my dad's house, and then I didn't get into University... so, yeah. Hope you enjoy the chapter anyway, please read and review!_

* * *

**Chapter Two – Arguments & Realisations**

* * *

Time seemed to slow down as Albus read and re-read the bloody message inscribed on the wall. He watched as the red liquid flowed along the cracks in the grey stone and he found himself wondering if those walls could keep him safe when the danger lay within. The sounds of gasps and screams bounced off the walls as more and more terrified students arrived at the scene, but Albus barely heard them, as entranced as he was by the blood pooling at the bottom of the wall. Here and there, there were tiny fissures where the wall met the floor, and through them blood oozed.

Suddenly, a hand grasped Albus' wrist and he was pulled to the side, snapping him out of his enchantment. A rush of sounds hit his ears, and he realised there were more than two hundred people looking at the message and Professor Longbottom was running towards them.

"Everybody down to the Great Hall. Now!" he shouted and shooed the students away from the now rather large puddle of blood covering the floor.

Albus cast about and saw James, Lily and his cousins heading down the corridor, away from the message, him, and Professor Longbottom, in a rush to get away. They hadn't thought to come and find him; they had quite forgotten him. Anger, sharp and cold, shot through Albus like a knife and he felt himself drawing his wand.

"Al, come on!" Scorpius urged; his grip on Albus' wrist tightening as he tugged him in the direction of the Grand Staircase. Albus let himself be led away, his thoughts turning dark.

* * *

"There wasn't enough blood on the wall the make that much of a puddle anyway!" Albus heard Markus, the middle Carrow brother, exclaim from where he stood with Carrow, and their younger brother Thaddeus.  
"The wall was _bleeding_, Mark," Thaddeus said, sounding shaken.  
"It must have been a sanguinum charm. Very difficult, only a seventh year charms student could have done it," Carrow muttered.

Albus turned his back to the three boys awaiting Professor Flitwick's verdict on whether or not they could return to their beds. Students had, rather unusually, been asked to group with their family or closest friend's family if they had none at Hogwarts instead of staying with the rest of their house, and so, Albus stood with Lucy, James, Fred, Roxanne, Rose, Lily, Louis and Hugo, huddled together around the top end of the Gryffindor table (for now made House neutral) in their pyjamas.

He, for one, found it remarkably awkward. His older cousins, James and Rose all sat with their heads together, whispering hurriedly, whilst Lily watched as Hugo and Louis played a game of wizarding chess. Albus was excluded from both activities and found himself bored, longing to go back to his dorm, back with his real family. At the beginning of each year, Professor Flitwick told the first years that their House would be their home and their housemates their family. Every year, Albus found this more and more true; even his mother was starting to treat him as an afterthought. His mother; who so many years ago had been saved from Voldemort by people who were not yet family, but would become so. His mother; who had been manipulated into opening the Chamber of Secrets by Lucius Malfoy his best friend's grandfather. Albus looked around and saw Scorpius sitting at the far side of the room with his own cousins, Annia and Isabella Zabini, and smiled when Scorpius caught his gaze; it was strange how things could change over no more than a generation.

"It _must _have been a seventh year; only seventh years are taught it, and a Professor certainly wouldn't have done it," Albus heard Lucy hiss at his brother, paraphrasing something she probably hadn't heard from Carrow. He turned back to his family again as Professor Flitwick took to the podium, standing on a small stool before it that had been placed there when he became Headmaster after Professor McGonagall's retirement.

"All students, with the exception of Head and Deputy Head Boy and Girl, must now return to their dorms. New passwords have been installed and all students should follow their House Prefects, who know the new passwords, to ensure they make it safely into their dorms. Morning classes have been cancelled-" At this, a group of first and second years at the back cheered, but were quickly hushed by the stern look of older pupils. "-but each dorm will have a visit from their Head of House to inform you of any other changes. Goodnight!" Professor Flitwick squeaked, stepping down from his stool.

* * *

Albus lingered behind the younger Slytherins as he made his way down towards his dorm. At the front marched Thorne along with his fellow prefects – minus Frank Longbottom, who was also Head Boy – and he had seen Thaddeus and Markus somewhere near the front, but he had not seen Carrow, or any of his other friends. His eyes scanned over the sea of heads, but he could not see those he considered family. A slow, cold panic started to wash over him, starting in his heart. Why couldn't he find them? Had something terrible happened to them? And then a thought, so awful, so dreadful that it made his blood run cold entered his mind: What if one of them had been the one to open to Chamber?

"Albus! Al!" The voice, warm and worried, pulled Albus from his frightening realisation as Colt weaved his way around other students to find him. He sighed with relief. "We've been looking for you everywhere. Apparently Calin knows who it was!"

* * *

Calin, as it turned out, knew nothing of the sort, and wasn't even aware he was supposed to know anything. However, he had been worried about Albus, as it had been said that he had went missing. Both were just rumours, but Albus went to bed with the sickening realisation that one of his friends, one of his _family_, might be the heir of Slytherin.

* * *

Alone in the library, Albus leafed through an old book on the founder of Hogwarts. Godric Gryffindor – brave, chivalrous, daring, Helga Hufflepuff – kind, tolerant, dedicated, Rowena Ravenclaw – creative, intelligent, witty, and Salazar Slytherin – cunning, ambitious, determined. It was said that Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor were best friends, and often fought over students, as they liked the same qualities. The Sorting Hat had clearly changed in that way; Albus was nothing like the rest of his family.

The sound of footsteps caused him to look up and see a boy with the thick, wild hair of his father and the bright brown eyes of his mother, framed by square glasses, moving towards him with a determined expression set in his face. James Sirius Potter stood before his younger brother and crossed his arms.  
"Albus," he said, his eyes not moving from Albus'.  
Albus raised his eyebrows; James seemed just as scared as he was determined. "Yes, James?"  
James' eyes flicked down to the book in Albus' hands. A sigh escaped his lips, and he uncrossed his arms. Albus simply watched his older brother's uncomfortable behaviour, mildly amused by it.  
"Listen, Al, I know we're not close or anything-"  
Albus laughed, a harsh, cruel sound, void of humour, interrupting James' flow of speech. "Close? _Close_? James, last time we spoke, you told me never to speak to you here because you didn't want your friends to know you still talk to me! You told me that I shouldn't speak about you, or any of our family, to my friends because you didn't want anything about our family to be known by 'those kind of people'!"  
"Just listen to me, okay?" James slammed his hands down on the table.  
Albus raised an eyebrow; his brother was known for his temper, it hadn't scared him in a long time.  
"We both know that there's a high possibility that the Heir of Slytherin _is_ a Slytherin-"  
"Do we?" Albus hissed, the threat clear in his voice.  
James glared at him. "Shut up and listen to me!" Albus laughed again, but James continued on anyway, "So there is a likelihood that your friends have opened the Chamber. I want you to stop hanging around with them and stick with us."  
"Stick with _you_? After _you_ chose to abandon me when I was in first year, just because of the colours of my robes?" Albus barked, the volume of his voice slowly creeping upwards until his last word was more of a screech than anything.  
"Mr. Potter! Do keep your voice down! This is a library, as you may have failed to notice, and people are trying to study!" The Librarian, Madam Edgington shouted over to them, breaking her own rules.  
"Sorry, Madam," the boys apologised in chorus, sounding more bored than apologetic, before they turned back to one another, eyes set in equal anger.  
"No, Albus, you chose to be separate from us. You think everyone treats you differently since you became a Slytherin, but the truth is, you treat us differently. We haven't changed, you have," James hissed.  
Albus took a step back from his elder brother and started shoving books into his bag. "You are a liar, James," he decried, his voice low; and evermore dangerous for it, not looking up from his bag, "Why would I chose to have my family hate me?" He finally looked up at his brother, his green eyes wet, glaring into his brown orbs. He didn't brush away the tears, didn't acknowledge his hurt. "The truth is this; you are not my family anymore and you never will be ever again." Albus threw his bag over his shoulder and stormed out from the library. He blinked his eyes against the tears that threatened to fall, and ignored the heart crushing disappointment when his brother didn't follow.

* * *

Scorpius looked like some kind of ghostly oil painting when Albus came across him in the clock tower, dressed in pale blue jeans and an even paler blue jumper. The light that passed through the massive windows was white, making his skin and hair glow. In that moment, Scorpius was the most stunning, unearthly being Albus had even seen, and he found himself wondering how he could possibly fancy Carrow, when this angel stood in front of him.

And then a cloud passed over the sun and Scorpius became human again, delicately featured, and most definitely pretty, but nothing more than that, just Scorpius, just his best friend. The older boy turned and smiled when he saw Albus, that strange look in his eyes again, before he turned back to watch the pendulum swing back and forth. Albus stood by his side, dropped down his bag, and sighed.

"You alright?" Scorpius asked, his grey eyes concerned as they took in Albus' tired, worn-out looking face.  
"I think I just cut off all chances of ever making it oaky with my family again."  
For a moment, Scorpius just kept looking at him, before he threw an arm around his best friend's shoulder and pulled him close, resting his cheek atop the shorter Slytherin's head. "You've always got me. And Luce, and Carrow, and Colt, and Thorne."  
Albus felt his sadness bubble up in his chest, constrict his throat, and come trickling out in fat tears than ran down his pale cheeks before plopping down off his chin and onto the floor. He leaned into Scorpius as his shoulders shook.

When Albus had quite finished, he drew away and saw dark blue stains on Scorpius' jumper where he had sobbed against him. He looked up at his best friend and gave a watery smile.  
"Sorry about that."  
Scorpius only smiled back in return. Then his expression turned thoughtful, then excited. His eyes had taken on the strange expression again, but there was something else in them now, something of the same, but hotter.  
"Listen, Al, about last night..." He trailed off, gazing into Albus' eyes.  
Albus frowned. "What about last night?"  
Scorpius' eyebrows rose sceptically before he smirked; apparently understanding something Albus didn't. "There's no one else here, you don't have to lie about it." His voice was low and - dare Albus say it? - Seductive.  
"Lie about what?" Clearly confused, Albus looked up to his best friend, and watched as the smirk fell from his face, a very dark expression growing in its place.  
"You know what about, Albus." Anger had replaced the seductiveness in Scorpius' voice, and Albus realised he had obviously given the wrong answer to a question he wasn't aware had been asked.  
"Scorp, I really have-" Albus cut himself off as he watched Scorpius' face twist into something more furious than he had ever seen.  
"Fuck off, Albus. You're such a _prick_."  
Albus was left, alone and confused, as Scorpius stormed off, bag slung over his shoulder, quietly noting the hurt strain on the last word, completely oblivious as to what he had said wrong.

* * *

For the rest of the day, no matter how hard he looked, Albus couldn't find Scorpius.  
"Don't worry, Al, he was probably just in a bad mood. You know how he is," Colt assured him that evening in the Great Hall when Scorpius hadn't come down for dinner. Albus was not convinced. Yes, Scorpius threw angry, sulking fits every now and then, but never unprovoked, and never at Albus. He took a sip from his pumpkin juice, and tried to calm his mind. He concentrated on noting everything that was going on around him.

Opposite him sat Lucinda, wrapped in a heated discussion with Carrow and Thorne, who sat on her left and right sides respectively, about the best method of making Felix Felicis. On his right sat Colt, who was very decidedly not looking at Avery, who sat on his right and was talking animatedly with another fifth year Slytherin girl Albus didn't know.

It was almost always awkward between the two since the September of Colt's fifth year and Avery's fourth when their three year relationship had ended with Avery announcing that, in fact, she liked girls. What she did not announce was that she liked, in particular, one girl; Lucinda, as she had angrily confided in Albus one night after catching Calin and Lucinda snogging rather enthusiastically in the Astronomy Tower. How Lucinda did not know of Avery's affections was beyond Albus, it was painfully obvious, though recently, her attention was turning more and more towards Akari Hemsworth, a sixth year Ravenclaw, the daughter of Cho Chang and her muggle husband, and best friend of Colt's current girlfriend Annia Sadowski.

Sprawled out across the table was an assortment of food. It was shooting season, so most of the food was poultry; duck in plum and artichoke sauce, pheasant wrapped in bacon with butternut squash and parsnips, roast snipe with elderberry dipping sauce. There were other things too; pumpkin and cinnamon soup, pear and apple pie, roast beef, but at this time of year, most people ate the birds. Albus downed the last of his pumpkin juice and stood.

"I've got a load of homework to do, I'll see you later," he said to his friends as their curious eyes fell upon him.  
"You've barely eaten!" Lucinda exclaimed, sounding just like his Grams. He had a vision of Lucinda then, dressed in the singed orange and brown dresses his Grams wore, and one of her colourful woollen cardigans, and a smile crossed his face.  
"I'm just not hungry, Luce."  
She frowned, but protested no more as he left.

* * *

It was October, and at seven o'clock, the sun had already set. The night air was still, the distinctive chill that came with the beginning of autumn biting Albus' bare hands. He shoved them deep into his cloak pockets, scared that if he returned to the common room to retrieve his dragon hide gloves someone would be there to distract him, and he did not want to be distracted.

In one day, he had managed to lose both Scorpius and his family. How stupid was he?  
_Very, obviously, _the voice in his head told him, sounding mildly amused at his heartache.  
Albus ground his teeth in frustration. The voice hadn't bothered him in almost two weeks, why was it starting up again now?  
_You broke Scorpius' heart. How can you expect him to be okay with that?_  
He frowned. Broke Scorpius' heart; how could he have done that? It wasn't as if he loved him.  
_Yes he does, or did, you knew that, but you denied it anyway. You saw the way he looked at you, you knew what it meant, _the voice snarled at him.  
"Who are you?!" Albus shouted, angry at the voice, refusing to believe a word he said, but knowing somewhere in him it was true. The loudness of his own voice startled him out of him anger. Who are you?  
_Who do you think I am?  
_He had no answer.  
_I am you, or who you could be, who you will be.  
_That makes no sense, Albus thought back at the voice. This was not him, he would not say such things! He would not lie to himself, not like he had before.  
_Doesn't it?_ Asked the voice, again sounding amused.  
Albus bristled. No, he mentally snapped at the voice. No, it bloody well does not.  
No answer came, but Albus could have sworn he heard malicious laughing, not inside his own head but outside.

* * *

"Oh, Albus! There you are!" The shout came to Albus as soon as he stepped onto the Grand Staircase, full of relief. "Colt, Albus is over here!" The voice was that of Emilie Jean Bordeaux Caster, her Hufflepuff scarf wound snugly around her neck, her golden curls bouncing down her back as she ran towards him. She stopped dead in front of him, looking up at him with big, blue eyes. This was Colt's best friend.

"Al!" Colt shouted as he ran up behind her. His voice was wracked with worry. "Where have you been?"  
Albus' brows drew together in a questioning frown. "Just out in the grounds. Why?"  
"Merlin's beard Al; where have you been? We've looked everywhere for you." Thorne and Carrow both came stalking up behind him, matching irritated expressions sculpting their faces.  
"Where's Luce and Scorp?" he asked as an answer, understanding that something was very wrong. If something had happened to Scorp when they had fallen out...  
"Scorp's still up in the common room, and Luce is with Calin looking for you," Thorne explained. He looked at Carrow. "We'd best go get them." The pair walked off then, still not telling Albus why they had been so worried about them.

* * *

"Someone's been petrified, Al, the Professors won't tell us who yet, and when nobody could find you... Well, we thought it was you," Colt told him as they headed down the back spiral staircase to the dungeons. The air was colder here than the rest of the castle and the torches dimmer, with water occasionally dripped onto the head of the innocent by passer, and as such foul looking black mould grew where the walls met the ceiling. Hardly anybody used this staircase normally, but today Slytherins of various ages milled about. "The main staircase is closed off for now; that's where the person was petrified."

As the pair slid into the Slytherin common room – Emilie Jean having left them just after Thorne and Carrow – Albus caught sight of Scorpius. The older boy looked up at the newcomers from the book he had been reading, scowled, and stormed off down the stairs to the boys' bedroom. Albus sighed; clearly there would be no talking to him that night.

"Back, are you?" Avery asked, her voice portraying mild irritation, as Colt and Albus sat down on the sofa beside her. "Me and Scorpius looked everywhere for you. He was terrified."  
Albus gulped, guilt twisting his gut, but before he had a chance to reply, a pale hand had slapped him around the head.  
"Ow!" he screeched, turning round to see Lucinda standing behind him, hands on her hips, pale eyebrows drawn together as far as they would go, her mouth set in a line of fury.  
"Everybody was worried about you!" She sat down on the soft leather armchair next to him, crossing her arms tightly across her chest. Carrow squeezed in next to her, though really there was not enough space for him, and Thorne perched on the arm.  
"Calm down, Luce," he reprimanded her as Carrow shifted position to braid part of her hair. "He's here now."  
Lucinda said nothing, but was clearly not impressed. Albus felt anger grow in his stomach. It wasn't his fault Scorpius wasn't talking to him! And even if what the voice had said was true, they haven't done anything the other night, or any night for that matter.

Albus asked a question to deter himself from getting any angrier. "Have we found out who it was yet?"  
"The guy that was prettified?" Carrow asked, shrugging. "Some Ravenclaw first year doing some extra potions."  
"Was he a mudblood?" Lucinda asked, then quietly cursed herself; Albus knew it was habitual calling muggle borns mudbloods, that the literal translation for the Russian word for muggle born – her first language – was 'one with dirty blood', but still he felt Colt, who was a closer friend of hers than he, flinch beside him.  
"Yeah… a muggle born."  
"It always starts with the muggle borns," Avery muttered, and then there was no more discussion on the matter as Avery walked away to sit with a group of fifth years, followed by Lucinda who curled up with Calin in the wide, black velvet armchair by the green-flamed fire, but still Albus could not get away from the feeling that one of them, one of his own, had done the petrification.

* * *

Albus watched as the blond man swirled the dark red wine in his glass and looked up at the dark haired woman through his eyelashes. Albus felt a stab of pain shoot through his chest, as if someone had sent an arrow straight through his heart. The blood that oozed out of the wound was green, and when Albus looked back at the pair on the other side of the room, his vision was tinged green.

_How can he do this to me?! _The voice in his head screamed. _He's supposed to love me!_  
Albus flinched.

He didn't know the man, or the woman, or the voice in his head, but they had a vague sense of familiarity to them.

_And her, she's just a slut, a whore! She's just using him! He must know that, surely he must know that? He isn't an idiot, but then neither is she. Neither am I. I know what she's doing, doesn't he understand. It was supposed to be just us, just the two of us, together. This was our project, our work, and she thinks she can just worm her way in, does she?_

"Are you alright, dear?" A voice said from beside Albus. He turned to face the round, short woman, still furious with the blond man and unaware of whom he was.  
"I'm not your _dear_, and I'm perfectly alright," he snapped at her, turning back to the other pair as pain and worry settled in the woman's face. She too, had looked familiar, but he had no clue as to who she was.  
"It is wonderful here, don't you think? You and Godric have made it quite lovely. How brilliant it would be to live here, as you two do."

Albus ignored the plump, blond woman's insistent chatter, and watched with the green eyes of envy as the blond man tucked a lock of dark hair behind the other woman's ear, and she laughed at something he had said. Her hand: pale, elegant, delicate, moved to rest on his knee. He took it and brought it up to his lips. Albus, still unknowing of who they were, could kill them both, and this annoying woman beside him.

_She's manipulating him, and if I don't do anything about it she'll ruin everything! She'll be the one he tells his secrets to, not me, she'll be the one he takes long walks with around the garden, not me, she'll be the one in his _bed_, not me!_

_I can't let that happen. I must distract him, but how?_

Albus spotted a sword beside the blond man, the handle encrusted with rubies. He stood and walked over to the man. Startled, the pair looked up at him. A scowl grew on the woman's face, but a surprised laugh burst from the man.

"Ah, friend, come to see my new sword, have you?" The man lifted the sword from its place and motioned for Albus to sit down beside him. "Wonderful, isn't it? Goblin made, obviously." The man looked at Albus, his bright blue eyes shining, and without the woman being able to see him, winked suggestively. Albus heart fluttered so ferociously, he couldn't see, and then everything was cold.


End file.
